Migration Category: news-1-5000-national

A recent Gallup survey asked people living in the major cities of Brazil, Columbia, Mexico and El Salvador whether they think their countries will elect a female president in the next 20 years. Two-thirds of respondents said yes. Seventy-nine percent of El Salvadoran respondents saw their nation electing a woman in the next 20 years; Brazil and Columbia followed with 77 percent. The Gallup survey explored the issue of women in politics, asking respondents whether they felt government would be improved if more women were elected to office. Survey participants answered that they feel women are better than men at many political tasks. Eighty-four percent noted that women are better at promoting women’s rights; 72 percent said women would do a better job improving education, and 64 percent trusted women to do a better job protecting the environment. Other issues where women fared better than men included reducing poverty, managing the economy, combating corruption, and diplomatic relations.

Breaking from the traditional seniority-based system of appointment, House Republicans yesterday selected a slate of committee chairs that did not include even one woman. The most senior woman in the House, moderate Rep. Marge Roukema (R-NJ), was passed over for the chairmanship of the Financial Services Committee. The committee, which will hold broad jurisdiction over the banking, securities and insurance industries, will be headed instead by Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-OH), a vocal ally of insurance and credit card corporations. Roukema later expressed concern that the lack of women in key positions could damage public perception of the Republican Party. In addition to excluding women, the panel has no minority members. Ironically, GOP leaders claimed the new appointment strategy was supposed to “open” the system.

Stem cell research, which could potentially provide life saving treatment for Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer patients, could be blocked under the new Bush administration. During his presidential campaign, Bush said he “would oppose federally funded research for experimentation on embryonic stem cells that require live human embryos to be destroyed.” Questions remain if Bush will block the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from receiving discarded embryo stem cells that have been harvested by private researchers.

In August 2000, President Clinton released federal guidelines allowing federally funded scientists to perform research on stem cells harvested from human embryos, with the provision that the research is done on the cells and not embryos. A spokesperson for Bush said the president-elect intends to review the guidelines put forth by Clinton. Stem cell research could face additional obstacles if Bush’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Tommy Thompson, is confirmed. Thompson is avidly anti-choice, and as the director of HHS, he would oversee the NIH.

Two Long Island women have filed complaints stating that Suffolk County police officers forced them to strip in public to avoid arrest. On Dec. 27 Julianna Rubio was pulled over by Officer Frank Wright for driving without headlights and then given two sobriety tests, one of which he said she failed. Ms. Rubio claims that Wright then handcuffed her and drove her to a parking lot where he told her she could either strip or face arrest. Less than a week later, Angelina Torrest filed a similar complaint stating that she had been forced to walk four blocks in her underwear by a Suffolk officer. It is not yet clear whether the same officer was involved in both cases. At least one additional woman has come forward with a similar story since the investigation began last week.

Opponents of Linda Chavez’s nomination for Labor Secretary have amassed excerpts from her collection of conservative columns and statements that reveal her blatant anti-woman rights stance. Chavez does not believe women face “glass ceilings” in the workplace that keep women from moving to upper-level, higher paying positions. Instead she attributes unequal pay and lower-level positions to women making different decisions than men.

Chavez has also spoken out about the rise in sexual harassment lawsuits, saying the increase makes the US a “nation of crybabies,” and “with men so often the target of such witch hunts, it’s no surprise that a few strike back.” More Feminist News about Linda Chavez: Bush Picks Right Wing Ideologue to Head Labor Dept.

A commission, set up by Maryland Governor Parris Glendening, has determined “discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation does occur in Maryland.” The commission has also recommended Maryland adopt measures to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Glendening’s proposal for a new state law will reach the State House of Representatives mid-January, where in 1999, a similar piece of legislation passed, only to be blocked by the conservative Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Glendening, whose gay brother died of complications from AIDS, has been a strong proponent of anti-discrimination law for years.

Hillary Rodham Clinton made history Wednesday as the first woman Senator from New York and the only First Lady ever to win public office. After being sworn in as New York’s junior Senator by Vice President Al Gore, Clinton pledged to continue the Democratic policies of her husband. President Clinton jokingly thanked New Yorkers for absolving him of his 30-year guilt for having cost his wife a political career.

Senator Clinton is pro-choice, in favor of gun control, a living wage, a Patient’s Bill of Rights, campaign finance reform, and protection of Social Security. Clinton’s election contributes to a critical mass of pro-choice feminists in the Senate, including 12 of the 13 woman Senators. Leading feminists attended Clinton’s swearing-in, including Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal, Feminist Majority Foundation board member Peg Yorkin, Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt, NARAL’s Kate Michaelman, and Ellen Malcolm of Emily’s List. For more information on Clinton’s views, visit her website: http://www.hillary2000.org.

On New Year’s Eve, just in time to meet the year-end deadline, President Clinton signed the International Criminal Court (ICC) Treaty„a major victory for women’s rights and human rights groups. Had Clinton not signed the Treaty, the US could not have indicated its support of the ICC through signature alone and would have needed ratification by the Senate. Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jesse Helms (R-NC) staunchly opposes the ICC.

In July 1998, 120 countries, excluding the United States, voted to adopt the Rome Statute establishing the ICC„a permanent court designed to prosecute war criminals, provide a mechanism for bringing to justice perpetrators of inhumane crimes against humanity, and for the first time in international law, recognize crimes of sexual and gender violence. Clinton’s signature was an essential step and encourages eventual ratification by the US and preserves US participation in the continuing discussion in establishing the court.

Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the ICC Treaty presents clear language defining gender crimes including rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; and crime of apartheid as crimes against humanity. Once the court is established, atrocities such as the Taliban regime’s brutal laws of gender apartheid against women and girls in Afghanistan would qualify as crimes against humanity and therefore eligible to be tried before the International Criminal Court.

The ICC is set to become a working international body in the year 2002 with the ratification of the Rome Statute by 60 countries. Learn more about the International Criminal Court. Other Articles about the ICC: Republicans Announce Campaign Against The International Criminal Court

New York Representative and avid abortion rights supporter Nita Lowey (D-NY) is the first woman selected to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whose efforts include taking back control of the House in 2002. Lowey, who is serving her eighth term in the House, will lead fundraising efforts and political planning for candidates in the 2002 House race. Lowey and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the first woman selected to lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, led last year’s efforts to reach out to women donors. Lowey also chairs the pro-choice caucus in the House of Representatives.

On December 31, 2000, an unknown person fired at least 25 bullets into a suburban Kansas City abortion clinic. An FBI spokesperson reported that the shots appeared to have been fired after 2 a.m. from outside the clinic, located in the suburb of Overland Park, KS. The damage did not affect patient-care areas, and the clinic, which performs about 4,000 abortions a year, was able to reopen later that day for business. Kansas clinics and physicians have been frequently targeted by anti-abortion extremists, including a firebombing in Independence, shots fired into an abortion provider’s home in Overland Park, an attempted arson in Kansas City, a 1991 shooting in Springfield that left two staff members wounded, and the 1993 shooting of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita. Anti-abortion extremist Rachelle Shannon was convicted of Dr. Tiller’s attempted murder and sentenced to 11 years in prison for that crime. Local and federal law enforcement officials are investigating the crime as a violation of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Violations of FACE, which was signed into law in 1994 by President Clinton, are investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department. Just before Christmas, President-elect George W. Bush named the virulent abortion opponent and former Missouri Republican senator John Ashcroft to head the Justice Department. Persons with information about the Overland Park shooting can call (816) 474-TIPS; callers may remain anonymous and a reward of up to $1,000 is available.

Linda Chavez, President-elect George W. Bush’s pick for Labor Department Secretary, has a decades-long record of anti-affirmative action, anti-pay equity, anti-minimum wage and English-only education positions. Women’s rights groups, labor groups and Latino groups have expressed outrage over Chavez’s nomination. Cecelia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza, criticized Chavez for being “in favor of dismantling affirmative action. She really opposes a vigorous federal role in enforcing civil rights.” AFL CIO President John Sweeney decried Chavez’s nomination as “an insult to American working men and women.” Business interests and right wing organizations have applauded her nomination. Bush’s cabinent appointments, with only a few exceptions, represent the very ideological, right wing of the Republican Party, despite his earlier pledges of bi-partisanship and consensus following an election in which he lost the popular vote and had no mandate. Chavez served as Ronald Reagan’s U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Director from 1983-1985 and became his Director of Public Liaison in 1985. Chavez was soundly defeated for the U.S. Senate in Maryland when she ran against Senator Barbara Mikulski in 1986.

Civil, women’s, and abortion rights groups are gearing up to oppose the nomination of former Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO) for US Attorney General because of his anti-woman, anti-choice positions on abortion and gun control. Groups campaigning against Ashcroft will urge Senators not to follow tradition by voting for a colleague, but rather to acknowledge Ashcroft’s record on civil rights and his unrelenting anti-abortion position.

Leading Democratic Senators have expressed concern over Ashcroft’s appointment, as well. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senate Judiciary Committee member, intends to explore how Ashcroft’s conservative politics will affect how he enforces the laws of the country. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) plans to press Ashcroft on his willingness to enforce civil rights laws that protect equal rights for women and minorities. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has expressed concern that if Ashcroft is appointed, he will not enforce laws against abortion clinic violence or gun control measures.

An Arizona federal appeals court lifted the state’s ban on fetal tissue research, ruling that the law was too vague for doctors to follow, and therefore unconstitutional. The court’s ruling revokes the nation’s last existing ban on such research. The law was initially challenged in 1996 by four Parkinson’s disease patients. Studies have shown fetal tissue transplants to be successful in treating patients with Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, and have great potential for combating cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and spinal cord injuries. Fetal tissue research has received immense support and praise from health research organizations, including the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

The Welfare Reform Act, signed in 1996 by President Clinton, contains a greatly overlooked amendment that increases funding for sex education programs that teach chastity as the only option for preventing pregnancy and sexual transmitted disease. The law reserves $250 million ($437 million with mandatory state matching funds) for educating children and teenagers about abstinence. The law also prevents any part of the budget from going to programs that teach about condoms or provide any information that in any way challenges or weakens the abstinence lesson. According to the New York Times, a National Institutes of Health panel of scientists condemned the funding of abstinence-only education as “an obstacle to reducing the risky behaviors among teens.”

A recent study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute found the number of high school teachers who subscribe to the abstinence only program has grown from 2 to 23 percent. The increase in the number of abstinence-only sex education programs can be attributed to the influx of religious conservatives on local school boards, rather than to the success of the abstinence-only message. In fact, three studies have shown insufficient evidence that teaching abstinence only prevents young people from having sex. Supporters of the abstinence-only education have argued that promoting the use of condoms increases sexual activity„a theory that has been disproved.

A federal Appeals Court has reversed a lower court judge’s ruling that the Massachusetts Buffer Zone law is unconstitutional. In late November, US District Judge Edward Harrington banned buffer zones, stating the law is unconstitutional and violates the free speech rights of anti-choice protesters. Harrington also stated the law unfairly discriminates against people protesting abortions because it forces them to stand at a distance, while clinic workers are allowed to approach and escort patients into the clinic. Massachusetts State Attorney General Thomas Reilly appealed Harrington’s ruling, arguing that the law is not a free speech case but one of public safety. The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted Harrington’s order, stating the Buffer Zone law was likely to be proven constitutionally sound.

Florynce Kennedy, feminist pioneer and lifelong women’s rights and abortion rights activist, died last week at the age of 84. Kennedy began her fight for women’s rights when she applied to Columbia Law School and was denied admission, not because she was black, but because she was a woman. Under the threat of a lawsuit, Kennedy was admitted. After practicing law, Kennedy turned to political activism, founding the Media Workshop in 1966 to fight racism in journalism and advertising. She also founded the National Women’s Political Caucus, started the Feminist Party and vigilantly fought for abortion rights in New York State. Kennedy is survived by three sisters.

Defeated Missouri Republican Senator John Ashcroft was nominated today by G.W. Bush to be the nation’s next Attorney General, but women’s and abortion rights groups promise to protest his appointment. During a press conference yesterday, Kate Michelman, president of NARAL, called Ashcroft a “virulent opponent” of women’s reproductive rights, and said an Ashcroft Attorney Generalship would pose a “real danger” to a woman’s right to choose, noting that, in the past, he accepted an award from the American Life League, an ultra-conservative opponent of reproductive rights. As attorney general of Missouri, he took the National Organization for Women to court on the ERA boycott, and was a staunch opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment. During his 2000 bid for re-election to the Senate, he was named on NARAL’s “worst choice list,” a group of anti-choice candidates targeted for defeat. Missouri has one of the worst records on choice, and 96 percent of its counties have no abortion provider.

The Attorney General, as head of the nation’s top law enforcement department, is “directly responsible,” says Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt, for enforcing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a federal law that protects doctors, abortion providers, and women entering reproductive health clinics from anti-abortion harassment and violence. Both Feldt and Michelman, when asked yesterday about the possibility of Ashcroft’s being named Attorney General, responded that they “would oppose his nomination very strongly.”

African-American and women leaders in the Democratic party are voicing their concerns about the party’s inattention to these key populations in party strategy and leadership nomination. Former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson hightened the debate when he announced today that he will challenge fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe’s bid for chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. Jackson sees a great need to reinvigorate the Democrats’ grassroots efforts, and to consult with minority leaders on key issues and party decisions. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) is supporting Jackson’s candidacy, saying that the party must “[give] stage and voice tone of the most loyal elements of the Democratic base, the African-American component.” Women, blacks, the labor movement, and latinos are the major component of the Democratic party’s grassroots constituency, and were often overlooked by party strategists in the 2000 campaign _ despite the fact that these groups disproportionately voted for Gore, and carried many of the states where Gore won.

The Children’s Place, a clothing retail chain that has 365 stores in 40 states, settled today in a racial discrimination case brought by a former employee who complained that her supervisors instructed her to treat black customers with suspicion. Amanda Berube, a white employee of the Children’s Place, told the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (CAD) and the state attorney general that supervisors told her to follow black customers around the store as they browsed in order to “prevent threat.” Berube was also instructed not to invite black customers to apply for store credit cards or to inform them about sales. Her earlier complaints to the district manager brought no response. The MA CAD sent undercover “testers” to the store, confirming racial discrimination in how black customers were treated by store employees. The chain, under a consent decree that allowed them to avoid a lawsuit, must take 22 corrective steps, including bringing in costly independent consultants to review the store’s policies and eliminate discriminatory practices.

President-elect George W. Bush met with religious leaders yesterday to discuss his new faith-based program, which would establish a White House office of “faith-based action” and expand tax deductions and credits for charitable organizations that work with the poor and disadvantaged. Among the denominations present at the meeting were African American churches, the Baptist Church, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Islamic Center of America. Rev. Jesse Jackson called the meeting a strategy of divide and conquer – and a Bush attempt to garner support among blacks, who disproportionately voted for Gore.

“Bush met with religious leaders, but he should meet with women leaders,” said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation. Smeal sees the new faith-based initiative as possibly dangerous to the separation of church and state and, at its core, a strategy not only to divide and conquer African-Americans but also to re-assert the ascendancy of male-dominated hierarchical organizations into social programs. “Most of the poor are women and children,” Smeal notes, “and ministers and priests are disproportionately male. In faith-based programs, females are systematically reduced from participatory decision-makers to the recipients of trickled-down aid. Institutions that are the last to change in favor of the inclusion of women will now be enhanced as gatekeepers of aid to women and children – with monies provided by all taxpayers, male and female.”

In addition to taking money away from female-based institutions, like those run by social workers and women-led nonprofit organizations, Bush’s faith-based initiative discriminates against progressive-minded charitable organizations that are not faith-based. In addition, the program raises the question of whether recipients of aid will be pressured or forced into adopting certain beliefs in order to receive aid. “This program will replace social workers and public agencies with ministers and priests,” Smeal warns. “It underwrites religion with tax dollars and violates the separation of church and state. In addition, it puts taxpayer money into the hands of religious leaders who then have a vested interest in a poverty class, rather than investing in the elimination of poverty, putting the money directly into the hands of the poor.”